2011 NCAA Wrestling Championships

he seems to be confident in his ability to come back for the olympics and until proven wrong i will give him the benefit of the doubt.

to the person who has had three surgeries, i just had my second shoulder surgery and am hoping to still return to wrestling after this one is done healing, hope caldwell can do the same, and it is sad that the dake caldwell match didnt happen because while i think both could be a little more humble in their wins dake needs to be knocked down a peg and as it would seem Caldwell might have been the only one able to do it. best wishes to his recovery.

wrestler. technically you are wrong. didn't is a contraction. a contraction is two words combined to form one word. 2-1 = 1

in terms of fitness and will, it's hard to find anyone as amazing as Metcalf. But I have to admit, it that finals match with Caldwell, Metcalf looked a bit winded. Caldwell's bold moves and spectacular technique seemed to surprise Metcalf and definitely wore him out in a way we hadn't seen before. Both wrestlers are fantastic, and Metcalf is really making great strides in freestyle, which is surprising the hell out of me 'cause his strengths in folkstyle (explosive, aggressive, relentless assaults) aren't so good for freestyle (freestyle favors finesse and technique and a lot of clever thinking). But Metcalf is adapting to that. I hope Caldwell can get healthy to return to freestyle, 'cause Caldwell is a technique-based wrestler, and that will translate into success quite easily in freestyle.

He will never perform to his capability again. Will not be surprised if he never competes again.

all these dake nut huggers are walking around with their chest's puffed out like they own shit. i wish caldwell didn't get hurt so he could knock them down a peg or two and set them straight. they are coming out of the word work over on themat forums now.

too bad he got hurt hell bounce back cant wait to see him on the international level

LongM - it is easy to pass judgement sitting at a computer, hiding behind a fake name watching. All these guys are doing and laying it out on the mat in however it comes out and that to me warrants respect.

Long Memory, remember when Caldwell pinned your boy with a spladle. lol

That was classic. Brands was in the corner yelling out "watch the spladle". Priceless

How about the time he beat him in the finals 11-5. That was epic. And then metcalf couldn't handle it and pushed him off the mat because he is a sore loser just like everyone from iowa is.

We all have our favorites, but I think you can't say who would have won if Dake and Caldwell met. If Caldwell hadn't gotten hurt in the quarters, who's to say he wouldn't have gotten hurt wrestling Dake. (Think of how hard Dake was returning Molinaro in the final and the pressure he was getting on that power half. That wouldn't have been good for a delicate shoulder.) Even if we could create a "healthy-Caldwell-vs-healthy-Dake-with-perfect-reffing" match, I still don't think you can guess it ahead of time. I've seen too many of these matches go in unexpected directions to say with any kind of certainty what would have happened. Styles clash, and sometimes people just wrestle in an inspired way. Caldwell did it to Metcalf. Dake did it to Molinaro. Let's agree that they are both very talented and just be disappointed that we never got to see them wrestle.

Remember how Caldwell hurt his back during his NCAA finals match vs. Brent Metcalf, and took a breather (thereby eroding Metcalf's fitness-based advantage)? Minutes later the back pain miraculously went away long enough for a backflip during regulation time. My point is, it's easier to surrender a possible legacy to an injury than it would have been to Kyle Dake.

Four words: Kyle Dake didn't surrender.